Nasa unveils US$28 billion plan to put first woman on the moon in 2024
- One male and one female astronaut will become first humans to land on lunar surface since 1972
- Mission will be carried out with Nasa’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft
Nasa has released its US$28 billion plan to land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024.
The mission, part of Nasa’s Artemis plan, would mark the first time humans would land on the lunar surface since 1972. Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine said astronauts are returning to the moon “for scientific discovery, economic benefits and inspiration for a new generation of explorers”.
“With bipartisan support from Congress, our 21st century push to the moon is well within America’s reach,” Bridenstine said in a statement. “As we build up a sustainable presence, we’re also building momentum toward those first human steps on the Red Planet.”
The crew for the 2024 mission have not yet been named, but Bridenstine told CNN in In July 2019 that the first woman to walk on the moon would be somebody “who has been proven, somebody who has flown, somebody who has been on the International Space Station already”.
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Astronauts will travel to the lunar surface using Nasa’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft after a series of final tests this fall. The agency will then launch two test flights around the moon, one unmanned mission in 2021 and the second with a crew in 2023.